​​​​​​​​Despite Canadian Pacific’s best efforts to reach an agreement with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference-Running Trades (TCRC), the union has provided official notice of its intent to strike the company in the event there is not a negotiated settlement. This group represents more than 3,000 active locomotive engineers and conductors at [...]

So the dispute does not escalate, Mr Crumlin is urging ‘all parties, and that includes not just all operators and port authorities, but also the shipping lines, to get together to defuse this situation and reach an agreed settlement.’

Things are off to a rocky start at the Port of Rotterdam’s new Rotterdam Gateway [...]

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) today called for all-party talks on the future of the port of Rotterdam, as dockers refused to unload a ship loaded at the new Rotterdam Gateway (RWG) terminal. RWG, unlike other companies at the port, refuses to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with port workers, who are represented by [...]

Drayage, the business of carrying cargo containers by truck from a port terminal to a distribution center, warehouse, or rail ramp, is in a god-awful mess right now at ports from California to New Jersey.

The problems:

Shortages of chassis and dislocations of chassis, meaning that chassis are in the wrong places [...]

Contract negotiations resumed Monday between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association after the holiday recess, but it appears that no significant progress will be made until both parties agree to compromise on the controversial issue of chassis maintenance and repair.

SAN FRANCISCO (December 29, 2014) – The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) said today that the PMA member carriers sitting on PMA’s Board of Directors need to come to the negotiating table so that direct and constructive dialogue between key decision makers can take place. “Both sides need the right people in the room [...]

In an editorial earlier this month, the Journal of Commerce outlined the numerous factors of congestion at West Coast and global ports. Excerpts:

For some, one-time factors such as the Manila truck restrictions and West Coast longshore negotiations can be dismissed as events that create short-term disruption, but, in fact, those two examples only served [...]

The national media have hit the issue, but those stories are generally relegated outside the front pages. For most media, particularly TV journalism, the story lost some sparkle once it lost that “man on the street” impact. Most of the public remains unaware of West Coast port congestion.

While West Coast seaports struggle to keep up with billions of dollars of cargo, dockworkers and their employers apparently aren’t close to a new contract nearly six months after their old deal expired.

While work speed has been an issue in several major ports, so has an ongoing lack of [...]